The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a power provisioning system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems may be coupled together via networks such as, for example, wired Ethernet networks, and equipment has been developed that is capable of powering information handling systems via the wired connections that provide those wired networks (i.e., negating the need for a separate power connection). The Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) developed IEEE 802.3 as the collection of standards that specifies the provisioning of Power over Ethernet (PoE). Generally, PoE systems operate by delivering power from power sourcing equipment to a powered device (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) cameras, IP card readers, IP phones, wireless access points, etc.) that is connected to that power sourcing equipment.
However, as more and more powered devices are provided in a network and connected to power sourcing equipment (e.g., network switches, routers, or hubs), the power consumption of those powered devices can raise issues. Conventionally, powered devices connected to power sourcing equipment are provided power as long as they are connected to the power sourcing equipment, which is energy inefficient, particularly when the powered devices are not being used. Conventional solutions to this problem involves providing static schedules that define the times during which the powered devices will be provided power from the power sourcing equipment (e.g., Monday through Friday during work hours such as 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.). However, different users may have different schedules and some powered devices may not be used regularly by any users, and thus the need to use particular powered devices at different times (often outside of normal work hours by a user) and such static schedules may not provide for the provisioning of power by the power sourcing equipment to the powered devices according to those users' needs. In such situations, the static schedules must be adjusted per each user's need(s), which presents difficulties as the number of users in a network increases.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved power provisioning system